Scottish Parliament

Written Answers

Tuesday 23 November 1999

Scottish Executive

Careers Service

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will widen the scope of its recently announced review of the Careers Service to include a consideration of the issue of ownership, taking into full account the recommendations of the McIntosh Commission on local government.

Henry McLeish: The terms of reference for the review of the careers service are: "To examine the role of the careers service in Scotland, and the scope for change and development of that role in the light of trends and initiatives in education, lifelong learning, and the labour market".

  All careers service companies are jointly owned by the relevant local enterprise companies and local authorities. The review’s remit suggests a concentration on the role, rather than the ownership and organisation of the careers service, but remains sufficiently wide to allow the committee to consider all options for the future of the careers service.

Education

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that all primary schools strike a balance between schoolwork and play.

Mr Sam Galbraith: An appropriate balance between schoolwork and play is a vital component of a rounded curriculum. Schools and pre-school centres have been given advice on the benefits of play as part of a balanced curriculum. Schools are also encouraged to provide pupils with experience of, and access to, a wide range of games and sports through the formal curriculum and through extra curricular activities. HMI reports comment on the delivery and breadth of the curriculum as well as on school ethos which includes an appraisal of school atmosphere and the extent to which pupils are positive and gaining pleasure from their work in school.

Employment

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will investigate the recent redundancies of painters at North Ayrshire Council and what plans it has to address the implications of these redundancies.

Mr Frank McAveety: This is a matter for North Ayrshire Council.

Enterprise

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to help people running small businesses acquire new skills.

Henry McLeish: In addition to the range of services provided by the Enterprise Networks, the Scottish Executive is investing over £16 million over this and the next two years in the establishment of the Scottish University for Industry. The Scottish UfI will be a broker, connecting people and businesses who want to improve their skills with the people who can offer them the learning they need, delivered how, where and when is most convenient to them.

  The Scottish UfI will pay particular attention to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. It will help in directing employers to existing courses and materials and, where there are gaps, commission new learning materials. The Scottish UfI, which we will launch next autumn, will give small businesses a cost-effective and convenient new way to build their skills base. It will make high quality flexible learning opportunities accessible to owner managers and employees at the times and places that suit them best.

Enterprise

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to promote the use of e-commerce by Scottish businesses.

Henry McLeish: The Executive is involved with Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and private sector partners, in the development of an e-commerce strategy for Scotland. The strategy will aim to increase awareness of the importance of e-commerce; to support an infrastructure which is e-commerce friendly; to co-ordinate enterprise network activities in order to create a climate where e-commerce may flourish; and to help managers and the workforce to acquire the necessary skill set to undertake e-commerce.

  The strategy is expected to be finalised, and an implementation plan drawn up, early next year.

  Scotland will also benefit from actions being considered by the UK Government as a result of the Ecommerce@its.best.uk report launched by the Prime Minister in September. The Executive will ensure that the Scottish e-commerce strategy takes account of relevant recommendations in the UK report.

Exports

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact it anticipates the latest interest rate rise will have on Scottish exports, and what plans it has to help Scottish industry compete following the recent rise.

Henry McLeish: We understand the importance of interest rates to Scottish businesses, but it is important to take account of the whole environment in which businesses operate. UK policy is set with a view to achieving the overall economic conditions for sustained growth and the avoidance of short-term instability.

  Competitiveness is determined by a variety of factors, including investment in skills, innovation and productivity. The Scottish Executive is determined to work in partnership with business and trade unions to ensure that Scotland is properly equipped to meet the challenges of a highly competitive global environment.

Fisheries

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the sampling and testing procedures followed when testing wild fish for the presence of Infectious Salmon Anaemia.

Mr John Home Robertson: Sampling methods include demersal trawling, gill netting and electro-fishing of burns. Testing is done on blood and kidney, liver, heart and spleen tissue. Procedures include screening for Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA) viral proteins using the Indirect Fluorescence Antibody Technique (IFAT); detection of a specific fragment of the ISA genome using Reverse Transcriptase Poylmerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and; virus isolation in tissue culture.

Fisheries

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when testing of wild fish for the presence of Infectious Salmon Anaemia was first carried out and how extensive this testing has been since that date in terms of the number of tests carried out and the geographical areas and species of fish covered.

Mr John Home Robertson: Testing of wild fish begun in summer 1998. To date over 1,800 tests have been carried out on 27 species, including Atlantic salmon, sea trout and brown trout. Fish have been taken from Lochs Creran, Nevis and Snizort, Mull, The Minch and Shetland (non salmonids) and The Hebrides, Shetland, Sutherland, Ross-shire, Lochaber, Loch Linnhe and Rivers Tweed, Tay, Dee, Don and Conon (salmonids).

Fisheries

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail what matters the Deputy Minister for Rural Affairs discussed at the Fisheries Council meeting on 22 November 1999.

Mr John Home Robertson: I attended the Fisheries Council meeting on 22 November as part of the UK delegation along with the MAFF Fisheries Minister Elliot Morley.

  The Council agreed a regulation for financial aid in the fisheries sector under the new structural funds arrangements. The revised Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) provides for a seven year funding programme beginning on 1 January 2000. It will enable a range of measures across the fishing industry including support for fish processors, quality initiatives, vessel modernisation and vessel safety. Grants for the renewal and modernisation of the fleet will be subject to a requirement for Member States to meet their overall annual capacity objectives. Where renewal or modernisation is proposed in a segment of the fleet that has not met its capacity targets, it will be necessary to withdraw 30% more capacity than is grant aided. This welcome innovation will help improve the balance between fish stocks and fleet capacity and restrain public funds being used across the community to augment fishing effort.

  The Council reached a broad political agreement on a reform of the fisheries marketing regime. The new regulation will provide lower tariffs for imports of fish which are important for our processing industry, while protecting the interests of our catching industry on sensitive species such as herring and cod. In particular, we have ensured that there will be no tariff suspension for herring, an outcome of great importance to the Scottish fleet. After a transitional period the agreed changes will reduce the overall costs of the regime.

  The Council also received a presentation on a draft Regulation to establish a Community framework for the collection and management of data needed to conduct the Common Fisheries Policy; this will return to the Council after detailed examination. The Commission reported that on 20 December there would be a meeting with the Moroccan Minister of Fisheries to take forward the EU:Morocco negotiations. There was an initial discussion of means of implementation of the new control arrangements adopted by the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission. Arrangements for the year 2000 will be considered at the next meeting of the Council on 16 and 17 December.

Health

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has issued guidelines similar to those issued by the Department of Health entitled No secrets: Protection of vulnerable adults.

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has issued guidelines on the protection of vulnerable adults to all commissioners and providers of health and social care services.

Susan Deacon: We plan to issue next week copies of the report Protecting the Vulnerable: Caring Enough which was produced by The National Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting Advisory Committee for the Chief Nursing Officer. Copies will be sent to commissioners and providers of services within the NHSiS, providers in the private sector, registered nursing homes and local authority Directors of Social Work.

  The report is similar in scope to the Department of Health document.

Health

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the anticipated cost would be in the financial year 2000-01 of making nicotine patches available on NHS prescription.

Susan Deacon: The cost to the NHS in Scotland of making nicotine patches available on prescription can not be stated with any degree of confidence as it would depend on a number of factors which are currently unknown. For example the take up rate among smokers and the conditions on which prescriptions would be available would have a major influence on the eventual cost.

  If all smokers who have said that they want to give up were given the recommended course of treatment of around eight to twelve weeks the cost could be up to £130 million for the first year.

  However, in practice the cost could be expected to be lower than this.

Health

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the anticipated saving would be in financial year 2000-01 if all prescription drugs were written and dispensed generically.

Susan Deacon: It is not possible to estimate future savings if all drugs were written and dispensed generically as it cannot be known with certainty for which drugs a generic equivalent will be available and at what price. In addition in some cases a generic product may be inappropriate for clinical reasons. However, during financial year 1998-99, savings of about £5.8 million could have been made in the FHS drugs bill, if all prescribed items, where a generic form exists, had been dispensed as a generic.

Highlands and Islands

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on what date the Highlands and Islands Convention will next meet and whether all MSPs representing the Highlands and Islands (including both constituency and regional list members) will be members of the Convention.

Henry McLeish: We are currently considering the future of the Convention of the Highlands and Islands. An announcement will be made in the near future.

Highlands and Islands

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Highlands and Islands Convention will have an opportunity to consider the Highlands and Islands Special Programme 2001-06 and, in particular, whether it will have an opportunity to consider the priorities for action and the project selection criteria listed in the consultative draft plan before they are finalised.

Henry McLeish: The Highlands and Islands Special Programme has now been submitted to the European Commission and will be finalised in negotiation with the Commission over the next few months. The plan has already been the subject of widespread consultation throughout the Highlands and Islands.

  We are currently considering the future of the Convention. An announcement will be made in the near future.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what its current policy is towards Scots domiciled persons who commit murders overseas and who are not subject to supervisory requirements when returned to Scotland.

Mr Jim Wallace: I refer to the answer given to S1W-852 on 2 September.

Planning

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has issued any planning guidelines on the siting of "drive-thru" fast food restaurants adjacent to school premises.

Sarah Boyack: There is no Scottish Executive guidance on this specific issue.

Rural Affairs

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications for funding under the Agricultural Business Improvement Scheme are currently pending, what the total amount of funding sought by these applications is and what action it is taking to determine the outcome of these applications.

Ross Finnie: There have been 3,955 grant applications made under the Agricultural Business Improvement Scheme (ABIS) since 1 August and up to the statutory closing date of 31 October 1999. All are currently being processed. The total grant value of these applications is estimated at £22.8 million.

  As announced on 16 November, an extra £1 million is being made available for ABIS, thus raising the total amount still to be allocated by 31 December 1999 to £2.2 million. I announced on 16 November that, in the light of consultations, the money will be used to fund resource audits, information technology, alternative agricultural production, mobile sheep fanks and dippers, residential letting and self-standing systems for the storage and disposal of farm waste.

Transport

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish any statistics which it holds on the number of road traffic accidents which have occurred within the vicinity of "drive-thru" fast food restaurants.

Sarah Boyack: This information is not available. The kinds of statistical information that have been collected for many years about road accidents in which one or more people are reported injured are shown in the example form on pages 128 to 130 of Road Accidents Scotland 1998 , copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.